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Breathing and tension
In the Western world, people are increasingly seeing the importance of proper breathing. In Eastern cultures, great importance has traditionally been attached to conscious breathing. In fact, there is a great connection between breathing and mental state, between breathing and physical and mental state. When you feel calm, your breathing usually functions without problems, as do your heartbeat and digestion. But that is disrupted when you are dealing with tension. When worried, you sigh and support. When frightened, you breathe rapidly. When there is great tension, you start panting; when stressed, you can become short of breath. And when you relax, you exhale. So the connection between physical symptoms and breathing is immediately observable. Likewise, disturbed or incorrect breathing has immediate negative physical consequences.
Average breathing per minute infants and children
Average breathing per minute decreases with age. A newborn baby may breathe as many as (more than) 40 times per minute. The breathing rate can vary greatly from one baby to another. Every 3 months, this average weakens sharply to around 30-35 breaths per minute at first birthday. In the second year of life, average breaths per minute continue to drop significantly to between 23-33. After that, it stabilizes more where a child between the ages of 5-12 will have slightly above 20 breaths per minute and will have a breathing rate of between 15-20 until teenage age.
Average breathing per minute adults and elderly
Adults breathe at rest about twelve to sixteen times per minute. Per breath we need about half a liter of air. When you exert yourself physically, it becomes much more: sometimes you breathe in as much as two or three liters. The amount of air a person can exhale after maximum inhalation – this is called the “vital capacity” – is about 3.5 liters for most people.
In elite athletes with very good fitness, this can be as much as 5.5 liters. After you exhale, there is always some residual air left in the lungs. In an average human life, the lungs fill up about 500 million times.
Consequences of wrong breathing
Dysfunctional breathing can be at the root of symptoms you do not initially associate directly with your breathing, such as chest pressure, feeling agitated, dizziness, fatigue, sleep disturbances, stress or even burnout.
Training the breathing frequency
Average breathing per minute can, at any age, be consciously trained. The fewer breaths per minute, the less your body is under stress. By training your breathing muscle, the diaphragm muscle, you can adjust your breathing frequency.
Through targeted exercises aimed at training the diaphragm muscle and flanks, Del Ferro’ s breath training teaches you to control your breath making you notice results from the very first lesson. The technique also contributes to relaxation which sharpens focus. Thus, through an efficient breathing technique, you not only release physical tension but also experience more peace emotionally and mentally. You will also find that you regain more energy.
